In this my first Presidents report of the new year, I would firstly congratulate and thank Charles Thomasson and his team for a very successful past 12 months.
On a disappointing note, due to Covid, the changeover luncheon had to be postponed and deferred to a later date, yet to be finalised. I would like to thank Graeme Isaacson and Franz Huber for their work in the organising the event so far.
Do not forget to register for Johnny Bueti's 'Christmas in July' Italian Long Lunch on 22 July, an event not to be missed.
Many thanks to all the Rotarians who arrived at the project shed at 8-00am to help unload the delivery of wheels and castors, but they were beaten by Larry Murray and the volunteers who completed the work before their arrival.
More news from the project shed:
Palen Creek Correction Centre arrived Saturday to deliver 10 wheelchairs and pick up 10 kits
40 wheelchair sent to Samoa via Donations in Kind, thanks to Col Laurenson
250 wheelchair’s requested by South Africa
We have a few children’s bikes in store and these are available FREE to any deserving child
The new website is live and we had 1160 clicks and 33 visits to the site within the first hour. Currently, as at Saturday, we have received $ 2,500 through the website, well done to all those involved.
A would also like to extend the invitation to any Rotarian to visit the project shed on a Saturday, even if only for morning tea, and see all the good work going on at the shed and enjoy some good fellowship.
NOTE: You MUST wear a mask to enter and move around within the club (you can take it off, once seated).
Malia McMahon was one of our awardees for RYPEN, the Rotary Youth Program for Enrichment. She is an upcoming leader in the Surfers Paradise Surf Life Saving Club, which nominated her. (BTW: Malia's sister Jade last year won the Lutzy Award. High achievers must be running in the family... :-))
The call to action said to be there at 0800 hours to help unloading a container full of BMX wheels for our wheelchairs. The problem with hyperactive volunteers is that some apparently turned up much earlier, so by the time the bulk of the troops arrived, the container had been unloaded already... OK, in all fairness: last time the wheels were stacked loose, this time they were neatly boxed.
Just as well that Palen Creek Correctional Centre arrived with another truckload of completed wheelchairs. Thank you very much! (photo). The heavy rain didn't help to keep the packing boxes nice and crisp, but fortunately we have some spare ones!
Not to be outdone, despite the heavy rain, some of the real tough guys kept working on the X-Ray Unit outside, while the rest kept on grinding bicycle frames, trimming plywood into shapes...
Just in case you were hiding under a rock for the past month (and who could blame you...): The Gold Coast Makers Rotaract Club, which was chartered in early June, has its "Head Quarters" at our Project Shed. Charter President Blake Foster (picture right), who is one of the many Rotaractors who regularly assisted on our projects, such as the X-Ray Unit for Vanuatu and our wheelchairs, managed to get a full page in this month's Rotary Down Under magazine (page 13). They meet on the first Wednesday of the month (ok, so last Wednesday they couldn't due to COVID restrictions). If you would like more details, click on this link to contact Blake by email. They are also on Instagram.
Had an interesting call this morning from Valerie at Apple Marketing. (For those of you who don't know: Apple Marketing, over the years, has collected hundreds of thousands of dollars for our wheelchairs project. Thank you!) Anyway, she had a donor on the line who wanted to donate $500, but wanted to be absolutely sure that it was tax-deductible (it always was), but to make it easy, she simply processed it via our new website. Howzat!
The sites are already live. Still, the main developers, Craig Parker (Digital Connections), Rotaractors Kristen 'KJ' Jewson and Matt Haywood continue to spend serious time on further enhancement. Click on these links:
A big THANK YOU! go to the dedicated development team, who all worked on a voluntary basis. Furthermore, Craig Parker arranged free Google Adwords advertising. All going according to plan, this should assist us to raise much needed funds in support of our wheelchairs and building projects.
Johnny Bueti advised this morning that all but 30 places for the 'Christmas in July' Italian Long Lunch are left.
They will be sold well before the official closing date. You need to book quickly, sort of like "right now". The booking site will automatically close when maximum numbers have been reached.
It's on Thursday 22nd July 2021, from 12:00 pm. No idea when it will finish, but don't expect too much change from the afternoon... ☺
There will be plenty of Italian style Christmas dishes. Johnny has secured a major sponsor: My Carte, and a number of corporate tables have been sold as well. The price includes all food, unlimited wine and beer, entertainment. All proceeds go towards the X-Ray Unit and Blood Analyser for Vanuatu. Note: COVID restrictions impose an upper limit of just 120 attendees. First come, best served.
… “So you’re retired?” I asked him. Yeah, right! Jimmy is one of these people who will never be inactive!
He was born some 67 years ago in Invercargill, on the very southern end of the New Zealand South Island. (Yes, they breed them tough down there; there isn’t much between that town and Antarctica…) Jimmy's vocation - and passion - is Building Construction, and specifically, the management of major commercial projects. Jimmy is a citizen of the world: his career took him to places such as New Caledonia, Amsterdam, the UK. One of his major projects was with Jacobs Engineering Group in their Singapore branch, where he had a senior role in the construction of a major centre for a Pharmaceutical company. “That was not only one of the most remarkable projects I’d done, but I also learned a lot there about modern construction methods,” he said.
Today, he still keeps fully active, not just at our Project Shed, but he also is in charge of maintenance at the Tamborine Mountain College. But it’s not just large-scale construction: one of Jimmy’s hobbies is fine woodworking. He recently built his own guitar, and is now learning how to play it! To balance the physical work, he follows his other hobbies of Computer Assisted Design, listens to Rock: ”Uriah Heep, Jimmy Barnes (think Working Class Man… ☺) and the like”, and keeps fit. Very fit, working out at the Gym, Martial Arts, walking about 10 Km a day…
Unfortunately, some 5 years ago, Jimmy’s wife passed away quite suddenly, due to a severe Melanoma. “I’m still finding the transition to being single again quite difficult”, he said. His daughter lives in Invercargill, and he is the proud grandfather of four grandkids.
Welcome to the Surfers Sunrise Project Shed, Jimmy!
Duty Roster - note: subject to change - please check every week. Note: Fellowship duty also is expected to be at the Project Shed on the Saturday following the meeting
A wife and her husband are sitting at a restaurant when the waitress starts outright flirting with the husband. The husband, a little flattered, gets a bit boastful and the wife says "Don't get excited. She's got COVID."
"How do you know?" he asks.
"Well, she's clearly has got no taste."
(there were a couple more just as good, but... we ARE a family publication! Ed. ☺)
The opportunity to secure ourselves against defeat lies in our own hands, but the opportunity of defeating the enemy is provided by the enemy himself. Sun Tzu, The Art of War
Reporter: What do you think the problem is with modern society?"
"The trouble around here is that nobody wants to take responsibility for anything! But don't quote me."
The call to action said to be there at 0800 hours to help unloading a container full of BMX wheels for our wheelchairs. The problem with hyperactive volunteers is that some apparently turned up much earlier, so by the time the bulk of the troops arrived, the container had been unloaded already... OK, in all fairness: last time the wheels were stacked loose, this time they were neatly boxed. 
Just in case you were hiding under a rock for the past month 
Johnny Bueti advised this morning that all but 30 places for the 'Christmas in July' Italian Long Lunch are left. 
… “So you’re retired?” I asked him. Yeah, right! Jimmy is one of these people who will never be inactive!
Gerald's contribution for the week:
